Hair divider and measurer for braiding



March 29, 1960 'r. s. FEES HAIR DIVIDER AND MEASURER FOR BRAIDING FiledMay 5, 1958 INVENT OR.

THELMA S. FEES ATTORNEY United rates Patent l ce.

The present invention relates to a toilet accessory and moreparticularly to a hair-divider for dividing a hank of hair into threeeven group-divisions so that these divisions may be braided into an evenand firm plat.

The art of platting hair is an ancient custom and is still I practicedby girls and women who have long cranial hair. To provide such plats, aselected hank of the hair is grasped by the hand and, by manipulation ofthe fingers, is divided, as nearly as is possible, into three divisions;then commencing near the head, these divisions are braided in a mannerwell known. The difficulty has been, for the person wishing to plat herown hair, to divide it evenly into the necessary three divisions,resulting in the hair divisions having different thicknesses (i.e.having more or less hair strands than the others) and the resultant platbeing uneven or irregular, thus unattractive and unpleasing to the eye.

..The object of the present invention is to provide a hair-divider forbraiding by which a hank of hair may be easily and more evenly measuredby merely inserting the divider through the hank, and, after someadjustment of the hairs relative to the divider where desirable, drawingthe divider along the length of the hank to effect the division.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and very simplehair-divider, useful in braiding hair into plats, and which may bemanufactured cheaply and is durable for its purposes.

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent from thefollowingdetailed description; and the invention resides in the sundrydetails of construction, combination and arrangement of its severalparts more fully appearing herein and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings, which form part of this specification by reference, thebraid hair-divider of this invention is illustrated in the form in whichit is at present devised and in which I Figure 1 is a pictorialillustration of the hair-divider in use and showing the manner of usingit; I

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the hair-divider in accordance with thisinvention;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substan tially on line 33of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view of Figure 2.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in which like characters ofreference refer to like parts throughout the several views, D denotedthe hair divider of this invention, which comprises a handle of anyconvenient shape or type, after the manner of the handle of a headhair-brush, from one end of which a narrow bar-like member 11 projectsforwardly as an extension of the handle. This bar 11 is preferably aboutfour inches long.

From one side (or from that which may be denominated the underside ofthe bar 11), four equally spaced and substantially co-extensivetine-like projections 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d extend laterally therefromin the same general direction for a distance of about inch. It is to beobserved thatone of the projections 12a is posi-' tioned at the free endextremity of the bar 11 and another projection 12d at or near thejuncture of the bar 11 with the handle 10, while the other twoprojections 12b and 120 are positioned, respectively, equal distancesfrom the end projections 12a and 12d and from each other; thus dividingthe area between the end projections 12a and 12d into three equalmeasuring space-areas into which a hank of hairmay be received andequally divided, when a bank of the hair is pulled somewhat taut and theprojections of the divider are the tautened hank.

Should any hair of the hank be. not embraced within' the spaces betweenthe end projections 12a and 12d, the user will place them within theconfines of these spaces and, if more hair strands be within the spacebetween any two adjacent projections, the user should distribute theminto the next space so that the spaces will contain an even, or nearlyeven, division of the hair and, thus, the divider acts as a guide ormeasuring device;

In order to retain the hair better within the measuring spacesbetween'the adjacent projections of the hairdivider and to conform tothe natural formation which the hair assumes'in divided group-divisions,the surface.

' of the bar 11, from which the projections project,

stantially outwardly converging walls which tend to compactlywedge orconfine a group of hair strands there-.

between. In addition, the end projections 12a and 12d may be curvedslightly inwardly, as shown, to better embrace and retain the hank ofhair (to be divided) withinthe confines of the divider.

The end extremities of the projections 12 are rounded so as not topresent a sharp edge or point, and it is preferred that thecross-section area of the projections be elliptical. The bar 11 may beof such dimensions as gives the device the necessary rigidity andstrength to resist breaking.

The hair-divider and measuring device of this invention may be made ofany suitable material, but it is suggested that it may be made of hardvulcanized rubber, or of, so-called, plastic materials, such as phenolformaldehyde resin, a vinyl resin, polystyrene, acrylic resin, celluloseacetate, cellulose nitrate and the like, or may be made of stamped ormolded metal.

The dimensions listed above are merely suggestive of the preferreddimensions of the divider and as a guide for the relative proportions ofthe device in order to meet the needs of its use.

In the use of the device, a hank of hair, as shown in Figure 1, hasfirst been combed to relieve it of entanglements and then held near itsfree end in a somewhat taut position. The divider is then applied uponthis hank of hair near the head of the user so as to insert theprojections transversely therethrough. The width of the hank, selectedfor braiding, usually approximates the length of the bar 11 of thedevice. However, should some hair lie outside and laterally of the endprojections 12a and 12d, they are placed by the user within the confinesbetween them; and, when occasion requires it, the user also distributesthe hair of the hank into the spaces between the adjacent projections12a, 12b, 12c and 12d in order for each space to contain a compactthickness of hair substantially equal to that in the other spaces. Thedivider is then moved along the divided hank toward its outer end for adistance, generally indicated in Fig ure 1, where the user inserts herfingers between and Patented Mar. 29, 1960 inserted transversely ofaround the divisions 'ofthe hair, as shown, and thereby grasps thedivided portions so that they may be .further separated in theaccustomedmmanner for the purpose of braiding the same into a plat;

The projections 1-2b and lze-may'be-wider thanathe projections 12aandlzd, as shown; in Figure -2, so that aqgreaterseparation may beobtainedbetween the central or middle division; of the-hair: andtheadjacent side divisions, for the ready insertion of the fingersof theuser into such separations. has an abundance ofthicklhair, theprojections "17 may be provided of slightly greater length than shown inthe drawings and mentioned above; However,5the proportions shown willmeet mostrequirements.

The user of this hair-divider and measuring device becomes treadily.accustomed to itsluse and can divide her hair for braiding in a periodof a few seconds'oftirne; and, the device assures substantially evenlydivided and measured divisions orgroup-strands resulting in .an-attrae-rtive-and firm symmetrically braided'plat of hair.

Having thus described the invention and'the manner in which it is to beperformed, it is manifest that the objects of the invention have beenattained thereby. However, it is understood that the hair-divider andgroupstrand measuring device of this invention is not to be limited tothe exact form shown and described herein, as it is susceptible ofvariations and modifications without departing from the spirit of theinvention and which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed, as new and to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A toilet device for dividing a hank of hair into three substantiallyequal groups of braiding-strands for hair plaiting purposes, said devicecomprising a bar, one end portion of said bar forming a handle adaptedto be grasped by the hand of the user, four substantially coextensivetine-like members projecting laterally from the Also, .in cases where auser other end portion of said bar in the same direction and lying .insubstantially the same plane and spaced apart appreciably along thelength of said end portion of said bar, as distinguished from a haircomb, to divide a selected bank of hair in three divisional groups ofbraiding-strands, when said device is applied to said hank of hair withthe end tine-like members embracing the sides of said hank, said bar andsaid time members being rigid so that said device may be drawn alongsaid hank, while in its inserted and dividing position, to divide saidhank along its length, the spaces between said tine-like members beingof substantially equal area to receive measured amounts of the hairstrands therein in suificient volume for providing substantially equaldivisions of said hank, whereby a symmetrical plait may be obtained whensaid group-divisions are braided.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 further characterized by the portion ofthe bar from which the tine-like members project being arcuate, and bythetine-like members projecting from said arcuate-surface of lesserradius and substantiallyradially ofsaid surface to provide outwardlyconverging walls for said hair-receiving spaces.

3. The subject matter of claim 1 further characterized by at least thetwo intermediate tine-like members being of a width to cause a wideseparation of the divided hairdivisions adjacent thereto into which thefingers of the user'may be readily insertedas the device is moved alongthe length-ofsaid hank-of hair.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS235,344 Dawn Dec. 14, 1880 1,671,094 Widdows May 22, 1928 2,517,232Patulski Aug. 1, 1950 2,755,808 Golden July 24, 1956

